Larry Devich
Friday, June 09, 2006
Friday in Pentecost Week
In the Name of Christ. Amen. People often have an aversion to churches. Maybe it’s all those years of being forced to go by their parents, or the fact that they just don’t see the point after a while.
People have been known to say, “I don’t have to go to church to worship God. I can worship Him at the lake.” Or in the deer stand. Or at the beach. Or in the pool. Or just at home.
Yes, you can worship God in all those places. But do you? Are you disciplined enough to set aside the time to focus on your God and Lord to hear His Word and respond to Him in praise and thanksgiving?
We have been given a tremendous gift in the Holy Christian Church and the Communion of Saints. It is a ready gathering of people who come together to hear the truth of what God has done for them in Christ.
Maybe it isn’t your perfect idea of what “church” should be, but what in this life really is? Yes, the Holy Christian Church is a gathering of sinners, sometimes sinners who don’t even like each other very much. But it is also the place where the Communion of Saints gathers.
The Church is where sinners go, just like the hospital is where sick people go. The Church is the place to be forgiven, the place to hear how God has healed you of eternal death through the cross of Jesus.
Sure, the Church will never be a perfect place this side of heaven, but it is the place where God promises without fail to come to you.
There, in the midst of His people, is a curious reality. People who sin daily are forgiven of those sins and made holy by the Holy Spirit.
Those same sinner-saints go out into the world to be a light in this dark world, carrying within them the faith that only God can give, the salvation that only God can give, and the eternal life that only God can give. What a treasure the Church is! Amen.
“We are God’s house of living stones, Builded for His habitation; He through baptismal grace us owns Heirs of His wondrous salvation. Were we but two His name to tell, Yet He would deign with us to dwell, With all His grace and His favor.” (TLH #467, v.3)
Daily Lectionary for today
Ezekiel 39:21-29
1 John 3:1-10
Matthew 10:24-33 ¶ 6/09/2006 09:40:00 AM 0 Comments
“In the same way He calls gathers enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.” (Explanation to the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed)
In the Name of Christ. Amen. People often have an aversion to churches. Maybe it’s all those years of being forced to go by their parents, or the fact that they just don’t see the point after a while.
People have been known to say, “I don’t have to go to church to worship God. I can worship Him at the lake.” Or in the deer stand. Or at the beach. Or in the pool. Or just at home.
Yes, you can worship God in all those places. But do you? Are you disciplined enough to set aside the time to focus on your God and Lord to hear His Word and respond to Him in praise and thanksgiving?
We have been given a tremendous gift in the Holy Christian Church and the Communion of Saints. It is a ready gathering of people who come together to hear the truth of what God has done for them in Christ.
Maybe it isn’t your perfect idea of what “church” should be, but what in this life really is? Yes, the Holy Christian Church is a gathering of sinners, sometimes sinners who don’t even like each other very much. But it is also the place where the Communion of Saints gathers.
The Church is where sinners go, just like the hospital is where sick people go. The Church is the place to be forgiven, the place to hear how God has healed you of eternal death through the cross of Jesus.
Sure, the Church will never be a perfect place this side of heaven, but it is the place where God promises without fail to come to you.
There, in the midst of His people, is a curious reality. People who sin daily are forgiven of those sins and made holy by the Holy Spirit.
Those same sinner-saints go out into the world to be a light in this dark world, carrying within them the faith that only God can give, the salvation that only God can give, and the eternal life that only God can give. What a treasure the Church is! Amen.
“We are God’s house of living stones, Builded for His habitation; He through baptismal grace us owns Heirs of His wondrous salvation. Were we but two His name to tell, Yet He would deign with us to dwell, With all His grace and His favor.” (TLH #467, v.3)
Daily Lectionary for today
Ezekiel 39:21-29
1 John 3:1-10
Matthew 10:24-33 ¶ 6/09/2006 09:40:00 AM 0 Comments
